I didn't seem to get anything done last night, but I was busy all night until after bed time. Just one of those things, I guess. A lot of the night was taken up with fetching all the updates to Windows 2000, anti-virus software, and spyware checkers. I swear I spend half my time on-line trying to keep the bad guys out of my PC.

I am continuing to tweak the dial-up connection. It isn't as painful switching back to dial-up as I though it would be. Probably because out "high-speed" connection never was. In any case, I will be configuring a PC as a router, firewall, and a proxy server. That will be fun as a project and will also be something I can set up for some other people. I need to find some sort of use for all the junk PC's setting around the house. This is as good as any other.

Not much planned for tonight. Nestina has soccer practice and Key Club stuff after school, so I will meet Debbie for dinner so we can kill time and avoid extra driving now that gas is inching up to $2.50/gallon.

Some thoughts on Iraq. I've never thought much of the "Bush lied" campaign primarily because (1) we know Saddam had chemical weapons, (2) we know he was perfectly willing to use them and in fact used them on his own population, and (3) certainly did his best to convince everyone in the world that he had chemical weapons and was trying to get nuclear weapons. Still, I do find it distressing that the Commander in Chief of the most powerful military in human history depends on dumbed-down verbal reports.

Fred on democracy. Many have said that no form of participatory government is stable in the long run because the people eventually learn to vote themselves money and influence. It appears we are seeing that play out right now.

Stupid is as Stupid does. The signs are all around, but is anyone reading them? A cashier that is too young to remember 2-dollar-bills is hardly surprising, but is there no one on the Baltimore police department over the age of 20? Why did they have to hold someone three hours in cuffs until the Treasury department showed up? Should the local Baltimore bank branches start giving lessons to the police department on how to discern legitimate currency from counterfeit?

And I have to run.